Granted, I only ever played one, but that char did alright.

Their skills do not make a char overly deadly as a whole.

Their entire skill set is functionally pretty useless against non-mages (though discern as a thief/assassin can be useful I would assume, for knowing flight timers) Critical hit against a melee class is rarely a good choice, since those enemies don't stack enough DR for it to be worthwhile. With crit you're not gaining much dam output, so won't use it, unless you happen to have dispelling critical, which then, stripping things like low level flight potions, protection spells, and stoneskin, can be insanely good. But absent that edge, you're almost always better off with a class skill for the two rounds of lag critical requires.

Against Mages, scouts are amazing, because critical hit is just that good. No mage will ever be able to match the dam output really because mages are not intended to eat a Demolish or Devastate every other round.

Spell Evasion + bane just means most mages, excepts shifters and some conjurers, really are unable to fight you effectively. Critical just means you usually can put out far more relative damage to max hp then they can.

The biggest problem with critical is it's no lag. So a mage can just flee or word. Which means you have to know when to use it, and when not to.

If I can put up 252 kills with a bard scout, that should be enough to prove they really are fairly powerful when done correctly. But would I take scout on a sword/mace spec giant warrior? No.

Warriors are really the worst builds for scouts, because they tend to have lots of combat options, and lots of passive damage output, so the need for critical is less. Maybe entwine, STSF, or cutoff, can make critical shine, but otherwise, most warriors should go berserker or defender.

But for thieves, rangers, assassins and bards, I'd say scout is a a good choice. Spell evasion is a really great skill for stealth classes, and well, bards need a way to put out some damage. Since their damage songs are all two rounds, critical is just what you use on mages.

I always say berserkers are better for killing non-mages because sometimes you only need a DB or two to win. Scouts are better for killing mages though, or at least equal, but also, will die to mages far less.